Silence filled the bus as nobody knew how to react. In fact, Ally wasn’t even sure she knew how to react anymore. Everything happened before she could even blink. Just when everyone thought the danger was over, the roof of the bus was suddenly torn aside as the brave brunette woman was pulled from the bus. To Ally's horror, the creature wasn't done with his torturing as he picked the brunette up by her throat and shook her hard before tossing her outside by another one of the creatures. Before Ally could help, although God knows what she would have done, she felt the bus move for a split second before rolling. Clutching the metal bar to regain her balance, she cried, "Hold on!" Even though she was prepared, she still felt her hand slip as she fell smack against the side of the bus. Groaning loudly as a seat fell on her back, her breath was knocked out of her as she crawled toward the window.

Sensing victory was within reach, he lifted a hand to smack the woman. This was his mistake as she still had another trick up her sleeve, or rather a knife. Even before Ally could muster up enough strength to let out a scream, the danger was over as the creature keeled over. It seemed like he was there one second and suddenly dead on the ground the next. To be truthful, even though her brown eyes were wide open the entire time, she still wasn’t even sure what happened.

“Let’s get out of here…”

Even though she spoke the words softly, it seemed to carry over everyone’s head. She didn’t need to speak loudly as the calmness in her voice was louder than volume. She spoke as though they had just finished watching a movie rather than surviving a battle for their lives.

The wind rustled through the open gaps of the broken bus and hit Ally; the cold air reviving her enough to speak. Looking out into the dark rainy road, she took an unconscious step back as the rain splashed in her face, plastering her hair to her head and shoulders. “Are you sure we should leave? What if there are more of those…” Her voice trailed off as she didn’t know what to call those monsters that attacked and killed so many of them. Her gaze slowly passed the unmoving bodies on the ground. Resting on the corpse of the bus driver, she squared her shoulders and shook her head. “I mean, shouldn’t we just call the police and wait or something?” Ally insisted as her nails gripped the plastic seat in front of her. In the chaos of the attack, she wasn’t sure where her bag and phone was but surely someone had to still have their phones. She really didn’t know what other option they had but leaving the bus didn’t seem like a very safe one.

Brian watched in disbelief as Ally's vase soared through the air and smashed against the creature's head, shattering into pieces that landed on the ground with a pleasant, wind-chime-like tinkling unfitting with the garish situation. Moments later, the injured man attempted to joust with the creature again, sliding underneath it on the slippery aisle, his blood and broken glass mixing with the rainwater and shards of pottery. Brian winced; that couldn't be terribly comfortable. He was going to have a fun time getting all of those tiny, crushed pieces out of the man's back if they survived this bus ride from Hell. It was then the strong, somehow experienced woman's turn, and just in time - Brian had been scrambling for something to do to help, but without the machete or anything else in sight, all he could have done was throw his 150 pounds at the creature and hope it didn't bat him away too forcefully.

A career in this obviously wasn't in his future.

The woman took the creature's life into her hands - literally - and snapped its neck, the mighty crack sending shivers down Brian's spine. In the relative calm that followed, it seemed like everyone was finally able to take a breath. Unfortunately, the woman wasn't in too much better shape than the creatures she had taken down. Taking a look around, he realized that most, if not all, of the people on the bus were hurt. I'm going to need to start carrying around a bigger bag, he realized, knowing he didn't have enough supplies in his kit for everyone. Seeing his tan messenger bag under the seat, he reached for it, keeping a tight hold on it as the woman spoke.

“You do that again, I swear I’ll kill you myself,” she told the jouster, completely livid, before collecting her various weaponry. She then turned to speak to the passengers at large. “Under no circumstances is anyone to go outside,” she said, her eyes sweeping over them all, a Shepard watching out for her herd. Brian nodded, as did many of the passengers. However, one was not content to be a silent sheep.

"You can't leave us unarmed if you're going anywhere," said a blonde woman from the back of the bus, her voice wavering, but she stood tall. "Maybe not all of us, but some of us can defend the others if you end up getting your own head sliced off up there. So give me something."

“I didn’t say I was going anywhere, did I?” The sound of the passengers' heads turning to follow the tennis-match conversation was almost audible. “Thanks for the confidence boost, but I’m not worried about my head right now.”

That was when there was a second crash on the bus's mutilated ceiling, and a long hand shot down, grabbing the woman around the upper torso to pull her up. In the still silence, all below watching with bated breath as rain fell onto their upturned faces, the creature's low growl was heard by all. It abruptly threw the woman to the ground and sprang from the bus, the force of the jump enough to uproot the bus. Cries of terror rang out as the bus trembled, its weight on only a fraction of its wheels, before it fell to the pavement. Windows shattered, metal grated, passengers screamed, and the flickering lights of the bus went out completely. Brian slid into Ally as he tried to brace himself against the seats they were between to keep from squishing the girl. Once the bus had settled, they moved unsteadily with the others and made their way to a window to see what was happening outside. They were just in time to see the woman kill the last creature, to see it fall to the pavement, lifeless. But she was still, lying on the road as well, and Brian knew he wasn't the only one fervently praying that she would rise.

She got to her feet and made her way to the bus. The passengers momentarily lost sight of her as she went around to the back, but a sound kick brought down the emergency exit door, and there she stood, her silhouette illuminated by the faint moonlight. She knelt down, appearing to take stock of the damage inside. "Let's get out of here," she said simply.

“Are you sure we should leave?" asked a frightened voice close by. Brian turned to Ally as the girl looked around the bus, the bodies, the terrified survivors. "What if there are more of those…I mean, shouldn’t we just call the police and wait or something?”

"It's not any safer in here than out there," reasoned Brian. "Less, actually, as we're all trapped inside. And out there we can see what's coming, if anything is, and while we wait for the police I can start treating those in the greatest need. Doctor," he clarified, smiling weakly at the others. All right, it was a bit of a stretch, but doctor was a lot more reassuring than student. And besides, he knew what he was doing. "I'm with her," he said, nodding at the woman. "Time to get off this bus." He hefted his bag over his shoulder and, seeing the woman's weapons nearby, took them gingerly in his hands before rising. He had to stoop over when he walked, his tall frame too much for the turned-over bus, and walking over the seats was awkward with his long legs, but he made it out - and man, did it feel good.

"Hopefully we won't need these again tonight, but just in case, I'd rather you have them than me. You seem to know what you're doing," he said. He smiled slightly as he held the bow and machete out towards the woman, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Some clarification about tonight would also be welcome," he said under his breath, still smiling as he strove to appear unconcerned to the passengers.